How To Replace Higuain

Friday

Aug 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2013 at 1:12 PM

The Crew will be replacing more than just one player this Saturday against Seattle. The loss of Federico Higuain will impact a number of different aspects of the game, from the locker room to the furthest corner of the field. We addressed the most obvious one – who will replace him in the lineup? – in this story and this blog post earlier this week.

Here's a look at those needs and who might fill them during the next two games.

The Crew will be replacing more than just one player this Saturday against Seattle. The loss of Federico Higuain will impact a number of different aspects of the game, from the locker room to the furthest corner of the field. We addressed the most obvious one – who will replace him in the lineup? – in this story and this blog post earlier this week.

Here’s a look at those needs and who might fill them during the next two games.

Who will be captain? This spring, Higuain was named team captain despite the notable language handicap of not speaking much English. Now the Crew will have to look elsewhere for leadership, and coach Robert Warzycha was not tipping his hand after Thursday’s training session at the team’s facility in Obetz.

“Somebody will be the captain,” he said. “I’ll pick somebody.”

Does that mean he already has somebody in mind?

“Yep,” he said.

The smart money is on Chad Marshall. The veteran defender was captain the last two seasons and took the armband from Higuain after he was ejected last weekend against Real Salt Lake.

The one hitch could be the fact that Marshall did not practice yesterday. Warzycha said he had a rest day, that Marshall is not injured and that he expects the defender in the lineup against Seattle. Should Marshall not be available, things get a little trickier. I’m not expecting Danny O’R ourke in the starting lineup, and fellow veterans Andy Gruenebaum and Eddie Gaven will both be out with injuries.

In a situation where Higuain, Marshall, Gruenebaum and Gaven are all unavailable and O’Rourke starts the game on the bench, I think a case could be made for two players: Josh Williams and Wil Trapp.

Who will take penalty kicks? This season, Higuain is 5 of 7 on penalty kicks. His seven attempts are a new Crew single-season record, while his five successful penalty kicks are tied for a record with Andres Mendoza (2011) and Guillermo Barros Schelotto (2010).

Last season, midfielder Milovan Mirosevic took the Crew’s first two penalty kicks of the season before Higuain took the final one in the last game of the season. In 2011, four players attempted penalty kicks for the Crew and all were successful but none are still on the roster.

Higuain is tied with Dominic Oduro for the team lead in goals, but I can’t find a record of Oduro taking a penalty kick in his Major League Soccer career. Given that, the most likely candidates would be Jairo Arrieta, Justin Meram or Bernardo Anor.

Asked who would take over that duty, Warzycha said, “That’s a good question. I don’t know.”

Who takes set pieces? The Crew might or might not be awarded a penalty kick, but it surely will find itself taking corners and free kicks in the next two games. Anyone who has watched Higuain for more than a game or two knows that these situations have been his specialty since joining the Crew. Higuain’s service is the main reason why he has 13 assists in 38 career games and is one of the most-feared aspects of the Crew offense.

Warzycha listed a few replacement candidates.

“I’m sure we’ll have some guys,” he said. “(Wil) Trapp can take some free kicks and (Agustin) Viana can take them and if Tyson Wahl is on the field he can take some. Bernardo (Anor) can take it. (Ben) Speas can take it. We have some guys.”

Meram was putting in extra work on free kicks yesterday. Viana seems a likely candidate for free kicks taken from the right side of the field when the coaches want an in-swinging ball served into the box. Wahl is unlikely to see action unless Marshall is unavailable and sets off a reshuffling of the back four and Speas is expected to start the game on the bench.

This might be the biggest loss of all concerning Higuain.

“It’s a high standard because Higuain has taken them very well,” Warzycha said. “They’re going to have big shoes to fill, to take those free kicks, but I think they are capable of doing it.”

ajardy@dispatch.com @AdamJardy

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